


Dishwashers

by KirstieJ



Series: Technological Adventures with Steve and Bucky [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2014-05-16
Packaged: 2018-01-24 23:56:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1621640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KirstieJ/pseuds/KirstieJ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The other Avengers just don't understand why Steve and Bucky refuse to use the dishwasher.<br/>After some questioning, they discover it's less of a refusal and more because they'd rather do it the old-fashioned way.</p><p>Old habits die hard and Steve and Bucky genuinely like being domestic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dishwashers

"Y'know, you two, we have a dishwasher for a reason." Natasha said as she sat down at the island in the kitchen. Everyone seemed to prefer sitting at said island. The dining table often went untouched, except when Sam was around and he and Steve sat there with sandwiches and coffee. To be fair, the island was more central. They could talk as one of them (Steve) cooked, and the coffee machine was closer. The dining table was more off to the side, before the hallway that lead to the bathroom and guest rooms.

"JARVIS, can you access my phone and turn the music down a bit?"

"Of course, Sergeant Barnes," the AI responded.

The phone, sitting in a mug in the middle of the island, was all but muted.

"Thanks. What'd you say, Tasha?" Bucky turned around, leaning against the counter with a towel in his hand. He was drying dishes as Steve washed.

"I said, you two don't have to wash the dishes yourself every day," Natasha repeated.

"I've told 'em that," Clint said, joining the conversation as he entered the room. He went to the fridge, pulling out the pasta Steve made last night in order to reheat it.

"I like doing the dishes," Steve said, his back turned to all of them.

"Yeah," Bucky agreed, "it's soothing. We always had to do 'em by hand back in the day."

"Okay, whatever you say," Natasha put up her hands. She absolutely detested domestic activities, but that was just her. Bucky shrugged at her, then turned back around and continued to dry.

-

It was only a few days later, however, that Clint walked into the kitchen to witness Bucky Barnes loading a few plates into the dishwasher.

"You dirty cheat," he chuckled.

"Who made the cookies?" Bruce asked, making no comment on Clint's insult to Bucky.

"I did. How am I a cheat?"

"You put the plate in the dishwasher."

Bucky scoffed, "I don't wash every single dish by hand. I have enough of the baking supplies I have to wash by hand. I put anything I don't have to wash myself in the dishwasher. Whenever Steve's not around." Bucky added the last part quickly.

"These are delicious!" Bruce exclaimed, "what icing is this?"

"Steve's mom's recipe. I don't remember the name, just how to make it."

"Okay, okay," Clint said. "Is this our little secret?"

"Steve won't care that I occasionally use the dishwasher, Clint. If you really feel the need to tell him that I do, go ahead. He'll probably just write it off as another weird thing you've said to him."

"Haha, okay. Wait, whattaya mean 'another'. I don't say that many weird things to him."

"You kind of say a lot of weird things to all of us, Clint," Bruce said. "Can I take a couple of these back to my lab?" he asked, gesturing to Bucky's cookies.

"Sure thing, pal. He's right, Clint. You're a grade-a weirdo."

"Fuck you, Barnes."

"Already have someone for that, Barton."

Bruce snorted as he gathered a few cookies in his hand, making his way out of the kitchen and to the elevator that would take him to his lab.

"So do I," Clint groaned. "Whatever. I don't even remember why I am in here, so for that, I'm stealing your cookies."

"How is your crappy memory my fault? My own crappy memory isn't even technically my fault, I'm not taking responsibility for yours." Despite his complaints to Clint, Bucky made no move to stop Clint from picking out a few of the cookies he made. They were actually for everyone, and there were an awful lot there.

"Everything is your fault because you're the newest Avenger. It's like an initiation."

"I'm not even an Avenger. And you're just making that up."

"Yeah, you're right. We don't have an initiation. But you're totally an Avenger! You live in the Avengers tower, don't you?"

"I only live here because of Steve. And because I don't think whatever is left of SHIELD really wants me anywhere else. Besides, Pepper Potts lives here; she's not an Avenger. And Sam is an Avenger, despite living elsewhere."

Clint avoided Bucky's gaze and stole a couple more cookies, "Whatever. You could be an Avenger."

"I've had enough fighting for a while," Bucky said, dry.

"Understandable. Oooh, right. I wanted a granola bar. Oh well. Cookies sufficed."

Bucky let out a quiet snicker, "Birdbrain."

"Hey," Clint says, faking a wounded voice. He grinned at Bucky a moment later. Bucky smiled back.

-

The next weekend, after the team breakfast Steve had cooked for all of them, they were back at it again. Washing the dishes, that was. Everything was fine until Tony had the same brilliant revelation as Clint and Natasha before him. The entire team, despite Thor, was seated around the island in the kitchen, except for Steve and Bucky who were at the sink behind it.

"Why do you two bother washing the dishes by hand? There's a big fancy dishwasher right there."

Steve sighed. Bucky turned around, like he had last time. He was smirking at Clint. Tony didn't really understand. He hadn't been in the kitchen much lately, preferring to eat out of the fridge in his lab or order food as he worked.

"It's no use, Tony," Natasha told him, draining the last of her coffee. Sam reached over and grabbed the mug from her, holding it out for Bucky to take. Bucky twisted and snuck the cup in the sink Steve was standing in front of. Bucky turned back around and continued to smirk at Clint.

"It's really not that big of a deal," Steve said. "It's not like it's hard to do or takes much time. It would go even quicker, too, if this sink weren't so small."

"Well, I hadn't really anticipated people would be using it to wash dishes in. Since we have a dishwasher. I expected to be used for filling up coffee pots and whatnot."

"Have you washed a dish in your life, Stark?" Steve asked. By now, Tony knew there was no malice behind Steve's words. Tony had lived a privileged life, but Steve didn't hold it against him, especially not now that Steve knew Tony.

"Believe it or not, I have," Tony rolled his eyes. He glanced over to Bucky, who looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. Bucky was still looking at Clint. Tony looked at Clint, too, who was muffling his laughter behind his hand. Bruce was shaking his head beside Clint. Lastly, Tony observed that Thor and Sam where somewhere between neutral and confused, while Natasha was stone faced.

"What was the experience like for you?" Steve asked.

"Horrifying. My hand touched wet food and I swore, from that day, to let the dishwasher do its duty. As it was meant to."

Steve laughed through his nose, "Wow. How did you even survive that? C'mon, seriously, washing dishes builds character."

Tony snorted back at him, and looked over to Bucky, who quite clearly mouthed the words "he's crazy" to Clint, eliciting a high-pitched laugh from him. Clint put his head on the table and started laughing for real.

Steve looked back at Clint, eyebrows knitted about the bridge of his nose. "You alright, Barton?"

Clint raised his arm to wave Steve off, "I'm fine."

Steve looked around, confused. Everyone else was as lost as him, or at least didn't let on they knew what was happening. Steve shook his head.

"Anyway... You agree with me, right, Bucky?"

Bucky smiled and nodded, "Of course. Washing dishes is great. I can't get enough of it, really."

Clint folded his arms underneath his head on the table, laugh becoming more breathy as he sucked in air.

"You're mocking me, aren't you? Why? I thought you liked doing this, like old times."

Bucky mirrored the pout on Steve's face, only better. It did hurt him to see the look on Steve's face though, "I like doing it because usually it's you and I to ourselves for a bit. Not the case, today."

"Oh. I just assumed it made you think of the past."

"It did, at first. Now it's just habitual, and I like it for that, too."

"You two are too domestic for me," Natasha said, standing up and taking her phone from the table in front of her.

"It's cute," Sam said, "they're just a little married, it's alright."

"A little married?" Tony let out a bark-like laugh, "they're so married it hurts. You don't live here full-time, you don't see their movie nights. If they aren't cuddling, they're fighting with popcorn and making a complete mess. Steve cleans it up, of course."

Sam grinned and chuckled softly. He could see the side of Steve's face from where he was sitting; Steve was blushing. "Have they figured out Netflix, then?"

"Steve was avoiding it in favor of DVDs, but Bucky has since explained to him," Tony answered. Bucky and Clint were smirking at each other again. Weirdoes.

Steve scoffed, "I wasn't avoiding it, I just figured I should go through everyone's DVD collection first. It took a while, between work and training and leaning more important things."

"Riiight," Tony said. "Well, thanks for breakfast, Cap. And thanks for cleaning up, even though it's completely unnecessary to do the dishes with a state of the art dishwasher right beside you."

"Let it go, Tony," Steve sighed again. Bucky snickered. Steve swatted him with his dish cloth and Bucky hissed at him.

"That's wet," Bucky groaned.

"They're too married for me this morning," Natasha commented, leaving the room at the same time as Tony.

Sam chuckled as he, too, said his goodbyes. Bruce and Clint were the last to leave. Bruce told them to ignore Tony, something he often told his teammates to do. Clint, like Sam, just laughed and left them.

Steve pulled the plug in the sink, ringing out the cloth and draping it on the edge of the counter. "There, done."

Bucky dried off the last few dishes, smiling at Steve as he did so.

"You really don't mind washing them by hand with me, right? If you want, we can start using the machine."

Bucky shook his head, "It's fine Steve. It's not that big of a deal. I like being this married."

Steve blushed again. Bucky put down the towel and put his hand on Steve's cheek, bringing him in for a kiss.

"Besides, I'll never give Stark the satisfaction of seeing one of us use the dishwasher after that conversation."

Steve laughed, and they kissed again.


End file.
